Should I redo my RV park website or just fix it?
Rebuilding a site that only needed new text is a waste. Patching a site that fails on a phone is worse, because you pay twice.
SHORT ANSWER
Fix it if the structure works and only the content is stale. Rebuild if it fails any of four tests: it does not work properly on a phone, it runs on software nobody maintains, you cannot edit it without hiring someone, or the layout cannot hold the pages you need. Fixing content is a few hundred dollars or an afternoon of your own time. Rebuilding is $3,000 to $8,000 once or a monthly plan. The mistake to avoid is spending real money patching a site that fails one of the four tests, because you will rebuild within two years anyway.
The four rebuild tests
- Phone. Open it on your phone. If you pinch to read, rebuild.
- Software. Abandoned platform, dead page builder, or a WordPress install nobody has updated in three years. Rebuild.
- Editability. If a rate change requires hiring someone, rebuild.
- Structure. If there is nowhere to put a site map, a rig-length page, or a proper FAQ, rebuild.
Pass all four and you have a content problem, which is cheap and fast to fix.
What a fix looks like
Rewrite the pages with current facts. Replace 2018 photos. Add the questions your office answers daily as real headings. Fix the rates and season dates. Add structured data. Claim and connect the Google Business Profile. Most of that is a few days of work and it is often the highest-return thing you can do to an existing site.
What a rebuild should keep
Your domain, always. Your written content, which is the slow part to recreate. Your photos, if they are good. Your URLs, redirected properly so the links pointing at your old pages still land somewhere. That last one gets skipped constantly and it is how a rebuilt site loses ranking it had. The redirect work is covered here.
The wrong reason to rebuild
Because it looks dated to you. You look at your own site far more than any guest does. If the facts are right, it loads on a phone, and people can book, a dated look is costing you very little. Spend the money on photos or on being findable instead.
Related questions.
How much does it cost to fix an existing campground website?
A few hundred to about $1,500 for a content refresh, depending on how many pages and whether photos are included.
Will I lose my Google ranking if I rebuild my website?
Only if the redirects are done badly. Map old URLs to new ones and rankings usually hold or improve.
Can I keep my domain when I rebuild?
Yes, and you should. The domain carries your history; changing it is the one thing that genuinely resets your ranking.
How do I know if my site is on abandoned software?
Ask who built it what platform and version it runs, and when it was last updated. Silence or "I'd have to check" is usually the answer.
Want this handled for your park?
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